Samuel Wesley the younger
Rev. Samuel Wesley (10 Feb. 1691 - 6 November 1739) (called the younger to distinguish him from his father) was an English poet and cleric. Life Wesley was born in Spitalfields on 10 Feb. 1690-1, the eldest child of Samuel Wesley (1662-1735). He entered Westminster School in 1704, and was elected king's scholar in 1707. His bent was for classics; he thought it an irksome break in his studies when Sprat, dean of Westminster, as well as bishop of Rochester, who had ordained his father, took him out to Bromley and used his services as a reader.Gordon, 317. As a Westminster student he entered Christ Church, Oxford, matriculating on 9 June 1711 (when his age is wrongly given as 18). His letter (3 June 1713) to Robert Nelson shows intelligent study of the problem of the Ignatian Epistles. He earned a B.A. in 1715, and an M.A. in 1718. He became head usher in Westminster school (his appointment seems to have dated from 1713), and took orders, on the advice of Francis Atterbury, who had succeeded Sprat in both offices. His attachment to Atterbury, with whom he corresponded in his exile, and in whose cause he wrote fierce epigrams on Sir Robert Walpole, was the real ground for refusing him the post of under-master at Westminster, though the reason given was his marriage. To the education of his brothers, "both before and since they entered the university," he contributed "great sums," and was "very liberal to his parents and sisters" (letter of his father, 28 Feb. 1733). He was active in promoting in 1719 the first infirmary at Westminster, now St. George's Hospital, Hyde Park Corner (Notes and Queries, 4th ser. iii. 353). In 1733 (Foster) he accepted the offer of the mastership of Tiverton grammar school, Devonshire. He never held any cure; his father in February 1733 was anxious to resign Epworth in his favour, but he declined the proposal. With his brothers John and Charles, while in Georgia, he corresponded in full sympathy (he was interested in the prospects of this colony, and his muse had prophesied its future greatness; he was probably the "Rev. Samuel Wesley" who as early as 1731 gave donations to the Georgia mission, including "a pewter chalice and paten," Stevenson, p. 254). The opening of their subsequent career he viewed with strong disfavour as the beginning of schism, and he remonstrated with his mother on her countenance of "a spreading delusion." The members of the family wrote frankly to each other, and Samuel did not spare his sarcasm; but there was no breach of good feeling. Atterbury's patronage, and his own vein of satire and humorous verse, made Wesley known in London literary circles. Edward Harley, 2nd earl of Oxford, writes (7 Aug. 1734) that he does not "know one so capable" of annotating Hudibras. He married a daughter of John Berry (died 1730), vicar of Watton, Norfolk, and had several children, who died in infancy (a memorial tablet to four of them was placed in 1880 in the south cloister of Westminster Abbey), and a daughter, who married Earle, apothecary in Barnstaple. From her family a quantity of Wesley's papers passed into Badcock's hands. Like his brother John, Samuel was near-sighted, and his health had never been good. He died suddenly at Tiverton on , and was buried in the churchyard. Writing Alexander Pope obtained subscribers for Wesley's volume of verse, Poems on Several Occasions, 1736, 4to; enlarged edition 1743, 4to; also Cambridge 1743, 12mo (with prefixed "Account of the Author"); reprinted 1808 and 1862. Besides humorous pieces, this contains several hymns of great beauty; 5 of them are included in the present Wesleyan hymn-book. A previous anonymous publication, The Song of the Three Children, 1724, is by Wesley, and many of his pieces were published separately (‘Neck or Nothing,’ 1716, 8vo; ‘The Battle of the Sexes,’ 1724; ‘The Parish Priest,’ 1732; ‘The Christian Poet,’ 1735; ‘The Pig, and The Mastiff,’ 1735) or contributed to magazines.Gordon, 318. Publications Poetry *''Neck or Nothing; A consolatory letter from Mr Dunton to Mr Curll''. London: Charles King, 1716. *''The Battle of the Sexes: A poem. London: J. Roberts, 1723; London: G. Brotherton, 1724; Dublin: George Faulkner, 1740. *''A New Ballad. London: 1723. *''A Paraphrase on 'The song of the three children'.'' London: Edward Lathbury, 1724; London: E. Say, for W. Meadows / T. Worrall, 1728. *''To the Memory of the Right Reverend Father in God, Francis Gastrell''. London: J. Roberts, 1726. *''The Prisons Open'd: A poem''. London: J. Roberts, 1729. *''Verses on the Death of Mrs Morice''. London: 1730; Dublin: George Faulkner, 1730. *''The Parish Priest: A poem upon a clergyman lately deceas'd''. London: J. Roberts, 1731. *''Poems on Several Occasions''. London: Edward Say, for S. Birt, 1736; Cambridge, UK: J. Bentham, for J. Brotherton / S. Birt, London, 1743. *''Poems on Several Occasions ... including many pieces never before published'' (edited by John Nichols). London: Simpkin, Marshall, 1862. Short fiction *''The Pig; and The mastiff: Two tales''. Dublin: J. Watts, for W. Smith, 1725. *''Four Tales: After the manner of the ingenious Matt Prior''. London: 1735. *''Tales: Instructive and entertaining''. London: W. Suttaby / B. Crosby / Scatcherd & Letterman, 1808; Leeds, UK: G. Wilson, 1811. Translated *Homer, The Iliad in a Nutshell; or, Homer's Battle of the frogs and mice. London: B. Barker, 1726. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Samuel Wesley 1739, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Jan. 7, 2016. See also *List of British poets References * . Wikisource, Jan. 7, 2016. Notes External links ;Poems *"Pastoral" *"The Descriptive: A Miltonick, after the manner of the moderns" *"Wroote: A heroic poem; humbly inscribed to Miss Mehetabel Wesley" ;About *Wesley, Samuel (junior) in the New International Encyclopedia *Rev. Samuel Wesley the Younger (1691-1739) at English Poetry, 1579-1830 * Wesley, Samuel (1662-1735) Category:English Anglicans Category:English educators Category:English writers Category:English poets Category:Wesley family Category:1691 births Category:1739 deaths Category:Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Category:18th-century English people Category:18th-century Anglican clergy Category:People educated at Westminster School, London Category:English male writers Category:18th-century poets Category:English-language poets Category:Poets Category:English clergy